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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: nail · saw · capital · wind · band · bank · degree · mate

  1. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  2. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  3. Tiny blossoms have come out all over the river ________________.
  4. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  5. She's very handy with a ________________.
  6. Excuse me, sorry ________________, you haven't got the time have you?
  7. He's the lead singer in a rock ________________.
  8. We ________________ that the plan would end in failure.
  9. He works in a ________________ mill.
  10. This ________________ always watches out for its own interests.
  11. Males and females first ________________ when two years old.
  12. He still wears his gold wedding ________________.
  13. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  14. Have you found your soul ________________?
  15. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  16. I'm going to the ________________ to withdraw money.
  17. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  18. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  19. He drove in a ________________ with his hammer.
  20. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  21. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  22. She broke her ________________ while washing the dishes.
  23. The ________________ went through the wall.
  24. He put a rubber ________________ around the bundle of letters.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. capital — a city
  2. degree — from a university
  3. bank — of a river
  4. capital — money
  5. saw — the tool
  6. mate — a friend
  7. band — a music group
  8. saw — past of 'see'
  9. saw — the tool
  10. bank — for money
  11. mate — to breed
  12. band — a ring
  13. capital — a big letter
  14. mate — a partner
  15. degree — an amount
  16. bank — for money
  17. wind — moving air
  18. wind — moving air
  19. nail — for a hammer
  20. wind — to turn a key
  21. degree — temperature
  22. nail — on a finger
  23. nail — for a hammer
  24. band — a rubber band

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com